DL Open Thread: Tuesday, May 6, 2025
You see what Trump’s doing, right? The exact same thing he’s done with his businesses for his entire career. Only with the Justice Department acting as his personal attorneys. He floods the zone with illegality, then he just draws everything out through the courts. Pretty much everything that has reached final resolution, which isn’t all that much, has gone against him. Only difference is: We’re paying for his attorneys, instead of Trump stiffing his personal attorneys.
The Trump Political Effect. Top-Notch R Decides Against Senate Bid:
Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia has decided against running for Senate in 2026, robbing Republicans of their top potential recruit against Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seen as the chamber’s most vulnerable Democrat on the ballot next year.
“I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family,” Mr. Kemp wrote on X on Monday, saying he had spoken that day with Mr. Trump and with Senate leadership about his decision.
Mr. Trump publicly attacked Mr. Kemp in 2024 while campaigning in Georgia — calling him “Little Brian Kemp” — and complained publicly that Mr. Kemp’s wife was not supporting him, either. “Leave my family out of it,” Mr. Kemp responded.
Mr. Kemp and Mr. Trump eventually appeared together and their relationship improved. But the governor has never engaged in the type of performative groveling that so many Republicans have done to stay in the president’s good graces.
Here’s why it’s important, courtesy of Josh Marshall:
It’s difficult to convey how big a coup this is for Democrats and how big a setback it is for Republicans for the 2026 midterms. Candidate choice is always important but seldom decisive. This is an exception. Ossoff was (and is) a favorite against everyone but Kemp. Kemp is a popular two-term governor who has managed what has eluded virtually every other Republican in the country: not being labeled “Never Trump” or anti-Trump and yet defying Trump at a critical moment. You don’t need to valorize that to recognize that that is a big selling point in what remains a tipping point state like Georgia. My own read is that Kemp recognizes the political power of that needle-threading and wants to keep it intact to run for President in 2028 or possibly even 2032.
Federal Court Orders That Democrat Take Seat On The North Carolina Supreme Court. It ain’t over until the 9 Solomoronic Supreme Court justices say it’s over:
In the order, Richard E. Myers II, chief judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, wrote that “retroactive changes to election procedures raise serious due process concerns.”
Justice Allison Riggs won the November election by 734 votes, confirmed by two recounts. Her opponent, Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, sued in state court, arguing tens of thousands of votes should be thrown out.
Trump on Alcatraz. Presented without critical comment:
“It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is I would say the ultimate, right? Alcatraz, Sing, Sing. And Alcatraz, the movies. But it’s right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there but they, as you know, the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up and it was a lot of shark bites, a lot of, lot of problems. Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz and just represented something strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we’re going to look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that and we had a little conversation. I think it’s going to be very interesting. We’ll see if we can bring it back, in large form, add a lot. But I think it represents something right now. It’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting. You look at it, it’s sort of an, you saw that picture that was put out. It’s sort of amazing but it sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable, weak. It’s got a lot of, it’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting and I think they make a point.”
UD President Resigns. He continued the tradition of refusing to open up the university’s books to the public. He refused to sign the document that hundreds of universities across the country signed to protect academic freedom. He continued the university’s tradition of arrogance in its dealings with the City of Newark. However, it’s not as if we can expect anything better from his successor:
Assanis instituted a partial hiring freeze, delayed capital projects, restricted employee travel and implemented other austerity measures. The university is forecasting another large deficit this year.
It was Assanis’ handling of that situation that prompted criticism from faculty members.
Last spring, a survey of more than 750 university professors found that virtually all believed the university was not transparent about its finances and that it did not prioritize academics when it came to budgeting, according to reporting by the Newark Post’s newsroom partner, Spotlight Delaware. About a dozen professors submitted anonymous comments that said they wanted faculty to call for a vote of no confidence in Assanis.
In a study released earlier this year, the faculty union questioned Assanis’ “poverty narrative” and argued that the university’s continued building spree was to blame for the financial difficulties.
“That’s a lot of operating resources to be directed into building,” Persephone Braham, the president of the university’s faculty union, told Spotlight Delaware. “That’s tuition, that’s fees, that’s research [facilities and administrative] funding, that is a local contribution from the endowment draw down, and only an average of 9-10% is being funded by presidential fundraising.”
But, hey, at least they’re now playing real college football. I think they’re gonna lose shitloads of money on that. Anybody have anything good to say about his tenure?
What do you want to talk about?
I like how he worked sharks into his Alcatraz bit.
I suspect that he’s confident that the Birdman of Alcatraz sequel will now be filming in the US.
Word on the street is that the Camden (DE) Police Department is the first in the state to formalize an agreement with ICE.
If true, can the General Assembly and/or the Governor do anything to override that?
Please take action!
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/demand-camden-police-department-cancel-287g